


Family Day

by Ellsey



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Meet the Family, SHIELD Academy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:53:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22837351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellsey/pseuds/Ellsey
Summary: Margaret Fitz is excited to visit her son on a Shield Academy Family Day. Is he fitting in? Does he have any friends?
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Comments: 4
Kudos: 51





	Family Day

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea while listening to a song and anyway it's a long story I won't go into. Also I feel sure other people have used the name Margaret before for Fitz's mom. I legit just Googled common Scottish names. /shrug
> 
> Also I know some people have a thing against using Fitz's first name, but I also couldn't think of a reason why this version of his mom wouldn't use it? So if that's a big no for then you should back out now. It won't offend me I promise. Take care of yourselves friends!

Margaret Fitz looked out the window of the car with excitement. She was finally getting a chance to see her son Leo at this Shield Academy place he had run off to. She had been very anxious when the Shield people came around saying they wanted her son to attend their Academy. It seemed like it would be a good fit for him. Besides, she and her son had never quite understood each other. They were all the other one had though, and she still missed him greatly. By all accounts he seemed to be fitting in well here. When he had written to her to say they opened up the Academy for families to visit once a year, she had jumped at the chance to see him.

Leo was waiting for her the moment she got out of the car. He gave her a warm hug while greeting her. 

“Well, let’s have a look at you,” Maggie said as she held her son at arm’s length.

He gave a slight roll of the eyes. “I’m fine Mum.”

Maggie gave him an appraising look. “I suppose you’ll do. Are you getting on alright? Keeping busy? Staying out of trouble? Eating enough?”

“I’m fine,” he repeated. “I stay very busy, I never get into trouble, and between you and Simmons I’m constantly reminded to eat.”

“Simmons?” Maggie questioned with a slight tilt of her head. “Who’s Simmons?”

“Just a friend of mine,” he said with a shrug. “Would you like the grand tour?”

Maggie nodded her head and allowed her son to lead her around the grounds. So Leo had a friend. This was a very welcome development. He had always been a bit lonely. His intellect and interests had never exactly matched up with any of the other kids around. On top of that his education became so accelerated that he never quite fit in with any group. She was relieved that he had someone to talk to here.

As they walked, Leo rattled on about this building and that and which professors had invented what where. As he talked, Maggie took a chance to observe her son. He seemed different here. Maybe it was just the ease of finally fitting in somewhere, but he seemed...lighter somehow. His stories were often peppered with this Simmons chap’s name. Judging from what he was telling her, those two seemed to spend a lot of time together. He was laughing more than she could ever recall him having laughed as he relayed a tale of some sort of science hijinks that she didn’t quite understand. 

Just then a noise issued from his pocket. He pulled out his phone and smiled broadly as he read the message then quickly typed back a reply. He repeated this process a few times as they walked to a bench to sit and rest. 

“Someone seems anxious to talk to you,” Maggie said.

“Ah no, it’s just Simmons,” Leo replied with a slight hand wave.

Maggie wasn’t surprised by this, but as she watched her son continue to grin at his phone screen she had to question whether Simmons was really just a friend. Leo looked like a lovestruck teen. While he _was_ technically a teen, Maggie had thought he was going to skip over the teen romance phase. And he had never shown any indication of being attracted to anyone really, male or female. He definitely appeared to be in deep now though. 

After a few more minutes he asked, “Hey, do you mind if we meet up with Simmons for lunch?”

Maggie repressed a deep sigh. She wasn’t sure she was ready for this, but she said, “Sure, sounds nice.” She decided that she might as well meet this Simmons bloke and see what he was all about.

They crossed a large grassy area that began to slope downward. At the bottom Maggie could see someone waving to them. 

“There she is,” her son said as he picked up the pace.

She? Sure enough, the person waving at them was no bloke. She was a young girl. Very young. Pretty too. She was smiling broadly as they approached.

“You must be Mrs. Fitz!” she exclaimed. “I’m Jemma Simmons. These are my parents Catherine and George,” she said, motioning to the two people standing next to her. 

Maggie worked to hide her surprise. Jemma Simmons was young, beautiful, and English. She must be intelligent too if she was here at the Academy with Leo. 

“I’m so excited to meet you,” Jemma continued on. “I’ve heard so much about you from Fitz.”  
  


“I wish I could say the same about you,” Maggie said.

Jemma gave a slight laugh. “Of course he hasn’t mentioned me. I’d say I was surprised, but that would be a lie. He’s not exactly a fountain of information about his life, is he?” Maggie laughed with Jemma, while Leo just shook his head and muttered a bit.

The five of them had a very pleasant lunch together, with Leo and Jemma alternating telling them about all the fun things they had done while in the Academy. Well, alternating probably wasn’t very accurate. More like filling in the blanks for each other. Their thoughts seemed to overlap, one finishing the other’s sentence with ease. And oh how they laughed. Jemma was an absolute ray of sunshine, and Leo seemed to be basking in her light. Of course, the more time Maggie spent with Jemma, the more she couldn’t blame her son. Maggie too enjoyed Jemma’s company so much that she was ready to adopt her just to spend more time with both Jemma and Leo.

They spent the rest of the day with the Simmons family, wandering the campus and looking at some of the technology displays they had out. Leo and Jemma would explain everything to their parents as they went along. As they were walking from one building to the next, a group of young people hailed them with a wave and a loud, “Fitzsimmons!”

Maggie raised her eyebrows at her son. “Fitzsimmons?”

Fitz looked mildly uncomfortable for the first time today. “Err, yeah,” he said, “I’m Fitz. She’s Simmons. Fitz-Simmons.”

“We work together so well that we always pair up for labs. I guess it just seemed easier for people to call us by one name,” Jemma supplied.

“Why not Simmons-Fitz?” Jemma’s dad asked with a sly smile.

Jemma just rolled her eyes. “Well it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it? At any rate it doesn’t matter to me. I just appreciate that they recognize our superior synchronicity and development processes.” Leo nodded emphatically.

The day was over much too quickly for Maggie’s tastes, and soon Jemma was taking her parents to their car with promises of lots of phone calls and letters. 

Jemma held a hand out to Maggie. “It was such a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Fitz,” she said.

Maggie pulled her in for a hug. “The pleasure was all mine, I can assure you. You really must come visit some time.”

“I would absolutely love that,” Jemma replied with a smile. She turned to Leo. “I’ll see you back at the dorms?”

He nodded. “Yep, see you soon.”

Jemma waved as she walked away from them. “Well, she seems lovely,” Maggie said.

“Ugh mum, don’t start please,” Leo groaned.

Maggie laughed. “I’m not starting anything. She just seems like a lovely young lady.” She paused. “You seem happy son.”

Leo looked at her with an indecipherable face. “I am happy mum.”

Maggie decided it wasn’t worth it to press the issue. “I’m happy for you,” she said.

He gave a slight wave of his hand as if trying to dismiss the entire matter. All too soon it was time for Maggie to go home. She gave her son one final hug.

“I miss you Leo. Be good. Take care of yourself. Be sure to come and visit soon.” Maggie tried to squeeze in every thing she had wanted to say to him while he had been gone. “And bring Jemma!” she added.

He returned her hug with a great squeeze. “I’m not sure I could keep Simmons away now that you’ve invited her. She’s a stubborn one that girl.” 

With one final pat on his arms, Maggie got into the car. She watched her son disappear as the car drove away.

Leo (or was it Jemma?) managed to keep his promise. Jemma came for a visit with Maggie’s son in tow, the two of them talking over each other and laughing at everything. They went to visit Jemma’s family as well. Maggie even managed to keep in touch with Jemma’s parents, the three of them comparing notes on how their kids are doing.

And then there was a long period of time where she heard...nothing. Not a peep from either Jemma or Leo. Jemma’s parents were the same. Maggie wasn’t a very religious person, but she said prayers for their continued safety anyway. It was all she could think of to do.

Which was why it was even a bigger shock when one cold, dreary day she heard a knock on the door. Maggie contemplated just sitting in her warm sitting room and not bothering, but the knocking got more insistent. She pulled herself up to open the door, and her jaw dropped the minute she did.

It was Leo. He looked older, more mature, and weary. So weary. But he was smiling a broad smile that Maggie had rarely seen before. 

“Mum," he said, “I have someone I want you to meet.” With that he pulled Jemma closely to his side. “This is my wife, Jemma Simmons.”

Maggie gasped. “Your wife?”

“Surprise?” Jemma said ruefully.

Maggie immediately leapt toward Jemma to hug her tightly. “Oh, congratulations! I’m so happy for you two.” She pulled back ever so slightly so she could look into Jemma’s eyes. Her daughter-in-law’s eyes. “And Jemma?” 

“Yes?”

“Welcome to the family.”


End file.
